The Cost of a Healthy Workforce

Keeping a business running smoothly isn’t just about hiring the right people.

You also need to keep those workers healthy. Failing to do so can be a costly mistake.

“The health and safety of the American workforce is vital to the U.S. economy,” said L. Casey Chosewood, director of the Office for Total Worker Health at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health at CDC.

Presenteesim, that is, people going to work while sick, represents nearly two-thirds of the total cost of worker illness, according to The National Health Interview Survey.

Having those employees working while sick is costing employers $150 billion to $250 billion, according to the Harvard Business Review.

Yet, as many as 38 percent of the working population in the U.S. don’t have paid sick leave, according to the National Health Interview Survey.